Dynamic Suspension Test Rig Using Virtual Modeling

The development of vehicle suspension design often involves optimization of ride comfort, handling, and durability. These factors can often have contradictory design characteristics. The need to find the best compromise, combined with pressures on vehicle development timescales and prototypes, represents a permanent challenge to those responsible for suspension design and development.

For instance, the superposition of both vertical and longitudinal loads during a braking manoever can lead to undamped vibrations in vehicle suspension components.

This paper presents a new approach to testing and characterization of the overall suspension system at an early stage of vehicle development. A practical, laboratory-based suspension test rig has been developed which can simulate vehicle dynamics over a broad range of operating conditions. One key to the effectiveness of this approach is close integration between physical and virtual test methods